Employment Disputes Lawyers Brisbane
Employment disputes can move fast. A key employee walks out the door with your client list. A departing executive joins your direct competitor. A senior hire is now soliciting your best staff. The damage starts before you even know it has happened.
Boyle Litigation is a specialist commercial litigation firm. We act for business owners, executives and individuals in employment disputes where the stakes are real: relationships, revenue, confidential information, and competitive advantage.
When an employment matter reaches the point of litigation or urgent injunctive relief, you want a specialist, not a generalist.
Employment Disputes: What We Handle
We focus on the disputes end of employment law. We do not cover general HR advisory, award interpretation, or routine Fair Work matters. What we do handle:
Restraints of Trade and Post-Employment Obligations
This is where most high-value commercial employment disputes begin. A former employee breaches a non-compete clause. A departing executive poaches your clients or staff. A contractor misuses confidential information.
We act for employers enforcing restraints and for individuals defending them. Speed matters. Courts can grant urgent injunctions that stop harmful conduct within days.
- We advise on:
- Non-compete clause disputes and enforcement
- Non-solicitation clause breaches (clients, staff and suppliers)
- Misuse of confidential information and trade secrets
- Client list and database misappropriation
- Fiduciary duty breaches by senior employees and executives
- Urgent injunctions to restrain ongoing and threatened breaches
- Damages claims for loss caused by breach of restraint
Employment Contract Disputes
Employment contracts often contain ambiguous, unenforceable or competing provisions. Disputes arise over bonuses, incentive arrangements, commission structures, IP ownership, and the scope of duties. We resolve them.
- We act in:
- Disputes over bonus, commission, and incentive payment obligations
- Intellectual property ownership disputes arising from employment
- Contract interpretation and enforceability disputes
- Disputes over garden leave and payment in lieu arrangements
Director and Senior Executive Employment Disputes
Employment disputes involving directors and senior executives are not ordinary workplace matters. They intersect with corporate law, shareholder agreements, fiduciary duties, and board governance. We understand both sides.
- We act in:
- Disputes involving executive service agreements
- Director removal or suspension disputes
- Breach of fiduciary duty and directors' duties claims
- Disputes involving equity, options and incentive arrangements for executives
- Confidentiality and IP disputes arising from executive departures
Workplace Investigations and Misconduct Disputes
Serious misconduct allegations, workplace investigations, and the litigation that follows can expose businesses to significant liability. We advise on the legal dimensions of investigation processes and act in disputes arising from them.
Restraints of Trade: What You Need to Know
A restraint of trade clause is only as good as its enforceability. An unenforceable restraint is no protection at all.
What Makes a Restraint Enforceable
Australian courts will enforce a restraint of trade only if it goes no further than is reasonably necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. What is reasonable depends on the specific circumstances: the nature of the business, the employee’s role, the geographic scope, and the duration of the restriction.
- Legitimate interests courts will protect include:
- Customer and client relationships and goodwill
- Trade secrets and confidential information
- Staff relationships and team stability
- Proprietary know-how and business methods
Common Types of Restraint Clauses
Non-compete clauses prevent a former employee from engaging in competing business activity for a defined period and within a defined geographic area. These clauses directly restrict an individual’s ability to earn income and are the most closely scrutinised by courts.
Non-solicitation clauses prevent a former employee from approaching or soliciting the employer’s clients, customers, staff or suppliers. These are generally more readily enforced than non-compete clauses because they target specific relationships rather than limiting general employment.
Confidentiality clauses prevent the use or disclosure of confidential information and trade secrets after employment ends. Even without an express clause, certain obligations of confidence may be implied at law.
Cascading Restraints
Well-drafted employment contracts include cascading restraint provisions: a series of options at different time periods and geographic scopes, structured so that if the widest restraint is unenforceable, a narrower version applies. Courts in Australia can read down overly broad restraints in some states, but the safer approach is to draft them right from the start.
When to Move Quickly
If a former employee is actively breaching a restraint, every day without a response compounds the damage. Courts will consider delay when granting or refusing urgent injunctions. If you know of a breach, seek advice immediately.
Who We Act For
Employers and Business Owners
You have built a business. Your client relationships, your team, your confidential systems, and your goodwill are real assets. When a departing employee treats them as their own, the loss can be irreversible without fast, decisive action.
We act for business owners who need to move quickly, think strategically, and resolve disputes with as little disruption to the business as possible.
Executives and High-Value Employees
A restraint clause you signed years ago is now being used to prevent you from earning a living. Or you have been dismissed without proper process and significant entitlements are in dispute. You need a specialist who understands the legal and commercial realities.
We act for senior employees and executives whose disputes involve real money, real reputations, and real careers.
How We Approach Employment Disputes
We are litigators. We think about your employment dispute the way a strategist thinks about leverage: what evidence exists, what remedies are available, what the other side’s weaknesses are, and what outcome you are actually trying to achieve.
Most employment disputes resolve before they reach trial. But you negotiate from strength only if you have prepared as though trial is coming.
- Our approach:
- Assess the dispute and available remedies quickly, including prospects for injunctive relief where urgency demands it
- Identify the evidence required to establish breach and quantify loss
- Advise clearly on options, risk, and cost so you can make an informed commercial decision
- Move decisively when the matter requires speed
- Negotiate from strength where resolution is achievable
- Litigate with precision where it is not
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court enforce a restraint of trade against a former employee in Queensland?
Yes. Queensland courts regularly enforce properly drafted restraint of trade clauses. The key question is whether the restraint is reasonable: it must be no wider than necessary to protect a legitimate business interest. Courts will consider the employee’s role, their access to confidential information and client relationships, and the scope of the restriction. If the restraint is too broad, it may be unenforceable in whole or in part. Getting advice quickly matters, particularly if urgent injunctive relief is needed to stop ongoing harm.
What is the difference between a non-compete and a non-solicitation clause?
A non-compete clause prevents a former employee from working in or operating a competing business for a specified period. It is the broadest form of restraint and the most difficult to enforce because it directly limits a person’s freedom to work. A non-solicitation clause is narrower: it prevents the employee from approaching or soliciting the employer’s clients, customers or staff. Non-solicitation clauses are generally more readily enforced because they protect specific relationships rather than restricting employment generally.
How quickly can I get an injunction to stop a former employee breaching a restraint?
An urgent injunction can be obtained within days in serious cases. Courts have the power to grant interlocutory injunctions on short notice where ongoing breach is causing or threatening irreparable harm. The applicant must demonstrate a serious question to be tried, that balance of convenience favours the injunction, and that damages would not be an adequate remedy. Speed of response is important: courts will consider any delay on the part of the employer. If you suspect a breach, seek legal advice immediately.
Are client lists protected as confidential information?
Client lists and customer databases are generally treated as confidential information and can be protected as trade secrets. The key is whether the information has the necessary quality of confidence: it must be genuinely confidential, not merely available from public sources. Specific details such as pricing, purchasing patterns, key contacts, and relationship history are more readily protected than basic contact details available publicly. Express confidentiality clauses in employment contracts significantly strengthen the employer’s position.
Can I pursue a new employer who induced my former employee to breach their restraint?
Yes. A third party who induces a breach of contract can be liable for the tort of inducing breach of contract. If a competitor knowingly recruits an employee in breach of their restraints, or actively assists them to misuse confidential information, claims may lie against both the former employee and the new employer. This can be a powerful tool in the right circumstances and may support an application for injunctive relief and damages.
What if my employment contract does not have a restraint of trade clause?
Without an express restraint clause, your protection is significantly narrower. Australian common law implies some obligations of confidence during employment, but post-employment protection without a restraint clause is limited. Depending on the circumstances, there may be implied duties to protect trade secrets or equitable obligations of confidence, but these are harder to enforce and less predictable than a well-drafted restraint. This is why we recommend reviewing employment contracts for key employees and updating them when roles change.
Do you act in employment disputes outside Brisbane?
Yes. Boyle Litigation acts nationally. Our principal practice is based in Brisbane and we regularly act in matters across Queensland and for clients with operations in other states. We have appeared in federal and state courts across Australia. Distance is not a barrier.
Your dispute. Our battle.
Confidential advice. Decisive action. Direct access from day one.